Course Catalog

Students enrolling in Internship in Learning Technologies will be paired with area educational institutions where they will focus on solutions to real, ongoing issues and challenges in the uses of technology to support learning. A University instructor and an on-site internship director/mentor will supervise interns. A reflective analytical paper must be completed.

Discusses developmental theories and psychological research and their application to educational problems at the classroom and school levels. Theories and research are presented from cognitive-developmental, cognitive science, social constructivist, and motivational perspectives.

In our current age of accountability, developing an appreciation and understanding of the complexities of the design, evaluation and interpretation of educational assessment is paramount. In this graduate seminar we will draw on contemporary research papers, a range of existing tests, and multi-media resources to examine, understand, discuss and evaluate current theory, practice, and instruments associated with assessment systems used to evaluate learning.

The course has three goals: 1) to acquaint students with essential concepts in educational measurement such as reliability, validity, error, and bias; 2) to provoke inquiry into a number of important issues in the field including (a) assessment and accountability, (b) classroom-based assessment, especially formative assessment, (c) assessing students with special needs, (d) standards for educational assessment, (e) technology-based approaches to assessment, and (f) assessing teachers and teaching; and 3) to examine contemporary educational assessment practices in the Unites States with reference to the practices in other countries.

This course is designed as a fundamental graduate seminar on the principles, analysis, interpretation and appropriate use of educational measurement approaches and test design and it is not intended for individuals interested in a statistics-based methods course.

For questions, please contact Ed Silver at [email protected].

This course will provide an introduction to social network concepts and tools and how they apply to education and social policy, as well as how they apply to organizations. Topics include networks and power and influence, leadership, the use of research evidence, organizational climate and trust, organizational change, and policy advocacy/social movements.

This course is co-designed with students to develop reflexivity around and pedagogical approaches towards anti-racist education. Students will engage deeply with theoretical readings as well as practical tools to reflect on and develop their own anti-racist pedagogy. Students will regularly be expected to participate in group work and peer feedback.

Assessment is an integral part of teaching and learning. Teachers use informal and formal assessments on an ongoing basis to make decisions about their students, evaluate the success of their instruction, and to monitor classroom climate. The typical teacher spends about a third of his/her professional time engaged in assessment-related activities. Because classroom-based assessment is so critical to the instructional process, learning about assessment is essential to learning about teaching.

In this course, you will develop and evaluate formative and summative assessments of simple and complex student knowledge, beliefs, and/or attitudes associated with classroom activities associated with a subject-matter domain and a particular target audience. You will learn how to design assessments that are carefully aligned with educational objectives. This course will also include hands on activities to guide the creation, revision and use of quality assessment rubrics and coding schemes that work with the assessments of your design.

Learning Experience Design is a six credit hour course offered in two parts over the entire academic year. The course requires students complete a residency within the Center for Academic Innovation (CAI) where they will work under the guidance of the Learning Experience Design team. In addition to their placement in CAI, students will expand their knowledge of learning theory, digital pedagogy, assessment of learning, and curriculum design. Students will also develop practical skills in a variety of software tools used to develop materials for online learning.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a learning design framework to address the needs of all learners. Students will engage with three UDL principles to account for learner variability: multiple means of engagement, multiple means of representation, and multiple means of action and expression. Digital accessibility will also be explored.

Students will engage in experiential learning and design opportunities to explore the potential for and application of emerging technologies (e.g., extended reality, artificial intelligence) to support learning across various contexts. Critical perspectives will be applied to application and design, including attention to representation, digital accessibility, and inclusive design.

Examines in depth factors related to the development and implementation of instructional programs in writing at the elementary and secondary levels; explores specific instructional techniques.

Orients entering doctoral students to the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education. Acquaints graduate students with the study of higher education as an interdisciplinary field of study that bridges practice, theory, and empirical research. Enhances students’ abilities in the areas of critical reading, critical thinking and analysis, writing, and inquiry.

This course explores how children explore our increasingly digital. Topics will center on artificial intelligence (AI) and its relationship with children’s cognitive and social development from early childhood to adolescence. Students will engage with both popular and academic multimedia sources, discussions, and activities to explore a series of topics throughout the semester including how children understand and interact with AI, whether children trust AI, and whether using generative AI tools influences child curiosity and creativity.

Students are introduced to the process of designing computer-based learning environments. Students work in groups to design and prototype learning environments for real classrooms. Attention is focused on ensuring designs are based upon sound pedagogical theory and that learning environments are embedded into curriculum. If possible, this course should be taken in conjunction with EDUC 603.
 

When Americans write about democracy and education, they typically write about the constructive effects that education can have for democracy by improving future citizens' knowledge, political judgment, capacity for independent thought, and by building common political values. Very few Americans put the question the other way around: What effects has U.S. democracy had on education? This course will examine those effects in several domains: equality and inequality in the provision of schooling and educational resources; the structure of the occupation of teaching; the content of curriculum; the extent to which teaching and curriculum encourage independent thought and political judgment; and what students learn about democracy in school.
 

This course will introduce students to transdisciplinary approaches to Linguistic Justice. The course will provide students with opportunities to critically and reflectively engage in the work of antiracist language pedagogies while also exploring how they can produce antiracist research, knowledge, and praxis that work toward racial, cultural, and linguistic justice within and beyond education.